Nightmare
by krazi little aus
Summary: One-shot. After one particularly horrid vision, Harry finds solace in Sirius. Not slash!


**Disclaimer: **Not mine

**Author's Note: **I have not written a HP fanfic in about 5 years, so I'm a bit out of touch. Be kind =] Probably should say something about my other fic 'What If?' Well, I'll be honest I have no desire to finish that story. Two reasons why. Firstly, I just don't have the time. I wrote this one while I was supposed to be writing a document study for uni so yer...Secondly, I've lost the plot a bit. I dunno. I won't completely rule it out but I'm not promising anything. For now I think I'll just be sticking with one-shots. Thanks guys.

He was walking along a narrow dark street. He was excited, his blood pumping with adrenaline. Oh, how he had waited so long for this day. Oh, how had he waited, irritatingly patient, for this moment. The moment before a kill. How he loved the feeling. His fingers twirled his wand, he was not concerned about being caught. He was in his element.

There it was. He had reached the end of the street and there the manor loomed, pressing in around the surrounding houses. He almost smiled at the sheer arrogance. They thought they were powerful. They knew nothing of power.

He looked down at the large snake slithering beside him.

"Hungry, Nagini?"

Voldemort strode to the door with an elegance one possessed from years of self-flattery. He pointed his wand to the door and it exploded inwards. He took no notice of the splinters of wood that filled the hallway, or the terrified screams from upstairs. No, he was not interested in such trivial matters. As he made his way over to the foot of the stairs, he heard the small patter of feet from above and smiled. There were children. The screams became louder and he slowly made his way up the stairs, knowing that, no matter how long he took, there was no escape for this pitiful family.

He found them cowering behind a cabinet. There were three of them. The man, the one he had come for, had his wand arm out while his other arm shielded his wife and child from Voldemort.

"Where is it Garner?"

"Please...please," Garner was begging. "Please, this...this is Cat...Catriona. She's six. Please I beg you."

He knew he could get to the girl, it would be only too easy. The arm was an obstacle, certainly, and the wife was blocking his view, but the girl's arm was hanging on tightly to her mother's neck which was in plain view. A target.

"Avada Kedavra."

The girl's arm went limp and the woman started to scream. Garner dropped his wand and scrambled around his wife, clutching to his daughter's body as his own was overcome with loud, heart-wrenching sobs. The wife was still screaming as she buried her head into her daughter's body.

"Nagini. Dinner."

"NO!" The woman struggled with her husband for control over their daughter's body. She held the girl fiercely.

Voldemort looked down at the snake and nodded. The snake lurched, one fluid movement.

"NO! TESS!"

Nagini slithered out of Garner's reach as he tried to grab hold of it, the bodies of his wife and child lay still beside him.

Voldemort pointed his wand at Garner and instantly the man became still, his eyes still on the bodies of his family. Voldemort again nodded to his snake, and, as Garner looked on, it began to swallow his wife and child whole.

"Now, tell me, where is it?"

Garner, whether he wanted to tell or not, was incomprehensible as, with the spell weakened, he cried in agony as a small leg vanished inside the snake's mouth.

"Avada Kedavra."

xxx

Sirius lay in bed; eyes wide open, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling. He was waiting, as always, for the scream that would puncture the stillness of the night. It always happened, sooner or later, and Sirius could never seem to get to sleep until it _did _happen. Tonight, it was taking much longer than normal. It was almost two in the morning and Sirius didn't know how long he could stay awake. Perhaps, he thought hopefully, tonight was different. Perhaps, there would be no scream tonight.

The residents of Grimmauld Place had woken nightly to the screams and cries of Harry Potter. They never complained, they wouldn't dare. Not after what he had been through. After the first night, after the initial shock, they had become accustomed to the screams. After the third night, in which Molly Weasley launched herself upon Harry in the room he shared with Ron, the youngest Weasley boy said, in no uncertain terms, to 'bugger off and let me deal with it'. Sirius didn't much mind. He wouldn't have known how to deal with a screaming teenager and Ron seemed to have gotten the hang of calming Harry. But this did not settle Sirius' worry any. He just couldn't get to sleep until he knew for sure that Harry was fine. He wouldn't close his eyes until he heard Ron reciting the usual 'it was just a dream, you're fine' speech. He wouldn't dare let a bit of drowsiness get to him until he could hear Harry's soft snores reach him from the floor upstairs. That was a good thing about his bedroom. He had made sure that when he had chosen a room for Harry, that it would be located directly below his own, so that, through the thin wall, he could hear all that the two boys were up to.

It happened then. All at once the quiet was broken and a loud scream pierced the silence. Sirius jumped up in bed, sitting still, listening as hard as he could.

"NO! NO! NO!"

The screams were louder than usual, but still Sirius sat.

"HARRY! IT'S ALRIGHT! YOU'RE FINE!"

The ritual had started, but, when Sirius looked back on that night, he would realise that nothing anyone could say would calm Harry. Not this time.

"NO! NO! SHE WAS SIX!"

"IT WAS JUST A DREAM! IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT!"

"NO! IT WAS REAL! IT WAS REAL!"

It was real? Sirius got out of bed and opened his bedroom door. Across the hall he saw Fred and George peek out of their own rooms, faces stricken. This was certainly no dream.

"Stay here," Sirius whispered, running down the hall and down the stairs towards Harry and Ron's bedroom. When he reached the closed door, he encountered Molly standing outside, her hand resting, unsure, on the doorknob. "Molly," he whispered as the screams continued. "Let me."

She allowed herself, face pale, to slide away from the door and let Sirius take the initiative. Without wasting another breath, he opened the door and was met with a shocking scene.

Harry stood against the far wall, his wand drawn, a pool of what looked like vomit beside his bed. Tears were spilling from his eyes, dropping quickly and quietly to the carpet. He was not wearing his glasses, which, in Sirius' opinion, made him look that much more vulnerable. His bright green eyes were wide and flicking back and forth frantically. He was almost hysterical.

Ron stood opposite Harry, his back to Sirius. He had his hands out in front of him, palms forward, obviously trying to calm his friend.

"Harry?"

Ron whipped around and Sirius was shocked to see that the red-headed youth had tears in his eyes.

"I don't know what to do," the boy was muttering. "I don't know what to do."

Sirius stepped forward as Ron stepped back, thankfully allowing Sirius to take the wheel.

"Sirius! We have to go!" Harry almost looked relieved to see Sirius. "We need to go get them!"

Sirius rushed forward as he noticed Harry lower his wand. Sirius took it from his hands and tossed it on Ron's bed.

"Harry, what is it?" Sirius was starting to get frightened. As he had gotten closer to Harry he noticed the way the boy was breathing, deep sharp breaths that must have stung at his throat. Sirius wondered vaguely how the boy was able to scream so much.

"Sirius, he's got them! We can save them!"

"Save who?"

"The Garners," Harry said, suddenly lunging himself from the wall and trying to move past Sirius.

Sirius caught him across the chest and pushed him back, grabbing onto his shoulders and staring into the green eyes that seemed to be pleading with him.

"Harry..._who_?"

"I don't have time to explain!" Harry shouted. "We have to go! We have to save them!"

"OK, Harry," Sirius squeezed Harry's shoulders harder. "Just think, think. What happened?"

"Voldemort! There was a little girl," he was frantic. "Brown hair and...and she was six..He went to...went to their house and...and asked him where it was and...and..."

Harry's eyes widened as realisation struck him, as what happened in his vision hit him full-forced. His knees buckled and Sirius only had enough time to grab him from underneath his arms.

A full wave of grief hit Harry and tears poured from his eyes harder and faster than ever before.

"He...he ate them! Na-Nagini...he ate them!"

Sirius was only just aware that there were other people in the room with them. Ron sat against the wall with his head in his hands and his shoulders shaking. Mrs. Weasley held tightly to her husband and Hermione was on her knees, silent sobs racking her body. They listened. Shocked, as Harry relayed, in shocking detail, what he had seen. When he was done, Sirius grabbed him into a hug, his eyes stinging threateningly.

"He...ate her!"

Sirius felt Harry's body cave and together they slid down to the ground, Harry sobbing so violently that it was a wonder he hadn't collapsed. Sirius looked up as the twins walked in, one sitting on either side of Ron. George pulled Ron into his arms. Sirius turned his attention back to Harry.

"It's alright," he whispered as he buried his face in Harry's hair. "We'll get through this."

He just didn't know if they could.

**Review?**


End file.
